


amnesia aesop

by izadreamer



Series: Internal Tangles [7]
Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: And he is not happy about it, Anger, Character Study, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hatred, Imprisonment, Post-Season/Series 01, Solitary Confinement, don't forget to take your villain along when you hunting for mysteries kids, in which varian is left behind while rapunzel and others go rock hunting, otherwise he might be offended, speculative season 2 fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 01:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14727269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izadreamer/pseuds/izadreamer
Summary: Locked away deep in the Corona dungeons, Varian remembers, reflects, and comes to a decision.





	amnesia aesop

 

They load him into the cart and lock him away.

Varian doesn’t remember much about that night, not really. Everything after that last second, when those shining spikes were ripping up from the earth and through his machines, the jolts as they tore his automaton to pieces shaking in his bones, the loud rasp of his breathing and the high-pitched unnatural sound of his voice as he screamed his last denial, as the final damning spike pinned him down, the automaton stopped moments before reaching Rapunzel… everything is blurry, after that. The world goes hazy and feverishly warm, his world narrowed down to pinpricks— the hot burn of tears in his eyes, the painful wheeze of his breathing, the exhausted trembling in his hands and the ache of new bruises from being slammed around inside a small metal room. The air inside the machine is blisteringly hot, burning his throat and almost searing on his already feverish skin.

He doesn’t remember who, exactly, pulled him out of that machine—all he knows is that the night air was so cold it made him flinch, the winter wind hitting him like a slap to the face. The shackles they placed over his arms were so heavy that in his exhaustion his knees almost buckled, and it was only the knowledge that Rapunzel and the rest of the kingdom were watching that kept him on his feet. He’d already lost. He couldn’t… he couldn’t show any more weakness.

Dad wouldn’t have shown any weakness.

He remembers that he made it to the cart. He remembers that Rudiger climbed in with him—the only memory of that night that offers him any sort of comfort. He remembers… he remembers that they closed the doors. He remembers seeing Rapunzel, looking ill and weakened from whatever she did with those rocks—  _ Good,  _ some small, vicious part of Varian had thought,  _ you deserve it _ —her tired eyes watching him go but never meeting his gaze, her shoulders slumped, her face solemn and regretful as they closed the prison cart door in his face.

He remembers this, too—that this is the last time he saw her.

It’s been weeks now. Or days, maybe, because time is uncertain here but Varian, Varian is  _ certain _ —its been weeks, and he hasn’t seen a single human soul since then. No visitors but the guards, but even then, they just slide the food under his door and walk away. No one comes to speak with him. No one comes at all. 

He doesn’t even have any cellmates, or nearby prisoners to talk to—Varian is isolated from the rest of prison, kept far away. For their benefit or his, he isn’t sure, but surely someone remembered the truth serum incident and reacted accordingly. From the moment they pushed him into the cell and locked the door behind him it’s been only Varian and Rudiger.

For a time it had just been Varian. They had taken Rudiger away on the second day, and Varian— Varian had lost it. He knows himself well enough to admit that. If before he’d been in a daze, silent and staring, the guards taking Ruddiger had woken him up. He can’t remember what he did, or screamed, or said—has, in the back of his mind, a terrifying thought that he may have cried—but two days later Rudiger was back and Varian returned back to silence.

It’s better than being alone. He knows that, he knows, but—

They loaded him into the cart and locked him away. 

They locked him away… and  _ forgot _ him.

Where, exactly, is Rapunzel? That silly, stupid princess—Varian had at least expected a visit. An interrogation, even.  _ Why did you do this _ , or maybe a  _ how could you _ .  _ I thought we were friends,  _ though he doubts she ever thought that in the first place _. _ And yet. 

The Queen. The King. The guards, Flynn Rider,  _ Cassandra not Cass not Cassie— _

Where are they?

Do they think they are being kind, leaving Varian here? No visitors, no interrogation, no punishment—just a cell. Is this the King and Rapunzel’s idea of  _ mercy? _ To leave him here, forever? Alone. 

Forgotten.

As the days pass, the more his suspicion grows. They have forgotten him. They have locked him away and thrown out the key and left him to rot. They are living their lives in the sun, eating fine foods and laughing at nothing, while Varian wastes away and his father suffocates.

They have forgotten him, they have left him behind, and the thought boils in his blood. How dare they forget him. How  _ dare they. _ Varian has no such luxury. Every day is another reminder that his father is gone, trapped,  _ not here. _

But oh, they feel no such obligation, do they? It took them so long to see him as a threat, to see him as someone worth listening to. It took him so long to make them hear him, but now that he’s been locked away they’ve all gone and forgotten his words anyway. Not a threat, anymore, not someone worth listening to. That’s Varian, after all: he’s always someone else’s problem. 

_ Poor Varian, _ they must be saying, if they remember him at all.  _ So sad, what happened. It’s a good thing they caught him. It’s a good thing they locked him up. Now we can finally move on. _

His shorn fingernails leave red lines on his skin. His lip has been bitten to shreds. He’s paced so much his legs are cramping and the soles of his bare feet are worn smooth and aching like a bruise. When he digs his nails into the skin of his palm, they come back bloody.

Varian doesn’t get to forget. He will never forget, he can’t forget—from the moment he swore that day, he’s been hurtling down a path of his own making. No going back to those blissful sunny days. No more excuses. No more obstacles. 

_ No matter what. _

He hasn’t forgotten. Neither will they, in the end.

Varian stretches bloody fingers towards the wall and draws a red smear in the dust. Then another. And another. And again and again, until his fingers throb with pain and his plan is sketched out in full with the thin, stuttering lines of his blood. 

They loaded him into the cart and locked him away, but Varian will sooner die before he ever lets them forget what they did to him.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So I’m writing a post-season one fic, which came from my desire for Rapunzel to not just leave Varian behind and go searching for rocky origins. Mostly because I think leaving Varian behind is… not something he will take well. ((Also, why would you trust the king to redeem this kid. Varian Does Not Like the king. At least Rapunzel has some weight being a former friend. SERIOUSLY.)) So, seeing as I’m writing the fic where Varian is not left behind…. Clearly I had to write what might happen in a universe where he is. 
> 
> Viola. Sad fic, here we are.
> 
> [Link to Rec and Reblog?](http://izaswritings.tumblr.com/post/174133529537/title-amnesia-aesop-synopsis-locked-away-deep-in) Also, if you have any questions or just want to talk, [my tumblr](http://izaswritings.tumblr.com) is always open!! 
> 
> Any thoughts?


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